SPRING IS IN THE AIR AS ACCORD HOSPICE ANNUAL ART EXHIBITION OPENS AT THE ART DEPARTMENT

ACCORD Hospice Annual Art Exhibition takes place for a fifth year at The Art Department, 9-11 Causeyside Street, Paisley. This much-loved local art show, which has been running for over 40 years, will open on Thursday 2nd April and run until Saturday 25th April 2026, giving it a 4-week long run to raise valuable funds for ACCORD in aid of palliative care.

This year’s show features five hundred artworks comprising of paintings, drawings, ceramics, sculptures, photography, mixed media, and prints. Themes include flora and fauna; ships and skylines; Paisley and Glasgow; abstracts and architecture.  Artists appearing in the show are from Renfrewshire, Glasgow, Gourock, Edinburgh, London and there are international artists from Switzerland and South Korea taking part.  

The Featured Artists programme includes work from four established artists – Jo Adamson, Fiona Webster, Rowena Comrie and Eòghann Mac Colla. The group have submitted up to twelve artworks each for the show. 

This year’s poster design is by Josephine Josiah; a long-standing local artist whose work Flamboyant Melancholia depicts a colourful jester in acrylic paint, handmade and found collage, acrylic marker pen.  This work is for sale along with more paintings by Josephine. 

Jo Adamson creates under the name ‘Jo Sunshine Art.’ After losing her eyesight in a car accident 20 years ago, in 2016, her life took an extraordinary twist – she discovered her love of drawing. Over the past ten years Jo has sold 2247 of her artworks to buyers from all over the world. Jo uses brightly coloured oil pastels, which reflect in the light, and get close to the paper. “It makes me so happy. It is my life now. I’m looking forward to showing my work in the ACCORD Hospice show. I’m a happy-go-lucky person and I want my drawings to make other people smile.” says Jo.

Fiona Webster is a Scottish artist, originally from Fife but based in Paisley for over 25 years. Fiona has had a lifelong love of art and graduated with an MA Hons Degree in History of Art from Aberdeen University. Fiona said: “I am delighted to be supporting the ACCORD Hospice Art exhibition once again, having contributed every year since 2016. Using acrylics or watercolours and inks, I create paintings of landscapes and forms that inspire me and take my breath away: from coasts, lighthouses and boats to trees, plants, and skies. I mix elements of realism and stylisation, often within the same work. I like to use vibrant colours with layers of texture and underlying patterns to create shape, capture light and evoke a feeling of place. I hope my paintings will encourage the viewer to appreciate the beauty and wonder that exists all around them.”

Rowena Comrie was born in Southend on Sea and trained in Fine Art at Reading University, graduating with honours in 1982. The painting school at Reading was in the hands of Sir Terry Frost until 1981, and her abstract aesthetic has its roots in his department. She moved to Aberdeen in 1988 and moved to Glasgow in 2009. She has exhibited widely across the UK. Rowena’s last major solo exhibition was in 2024 at Inverness Creative Academy. 

Eòghann Mac Colla is a multi-disciplinary artist based in Ayrshire. Eoghann works around place and situation, time, and memory, he uses drawing and mark-making in the means to measure and mark places. Eòghann exhibited in the recent 127th Annual Society of Artists Exhibition in the Royal Scottish Academy and has exhibited widely across Scotland and beyond. He is currently working towards his final project on the Contemporary Art and Archaeology Masters in Orkney and will be taking part in the final part of his artist residency in Campbeltown Museum in this Spring. 

Artists are invited to donate artworks with 100% of purchases benefitting the fundraising campaign. A catalogue/price list will be available for sale, and a range of raffle prizes will be on offer, with donations welcome from local businesses. 

David McFadden, Communications and Fundraising Manager, ACCORD Hospice, commented: “We are thrilled to be opening our annual art exhibition for a fifth year at The Art Department. Their new space is well-suited to hosting our show and we look forward to welcoming everyone along to help raise funds for our charity.”

Steven Thomson, Creative Director, The Art Department, Paisley Limited, said: “The Art Department is delighted to be hosting this wonderful show in aid of ACCORD Hospice. This show is the first ACCORD exhibition in our new premises and the first Spring show, one that is uniquely filled with a joyful explosion of colour, flora and fauna, and artistry of all kinds. In these particularly dark times, we are so grateful to artists and our community of supporters enabling us to help ACCORD in their fundraising mission. We are immensely proud to support this charity.”  

The show is organised and managed by The Art Department in aid of ACCORD Hospice. Sales Commission is 50% with VAT @ 20% on the sales commission element only. Remittance of sale proceeds will be by 30th June 2026. 

Entry is free. More info here: www.art-department.org Issued on behalf of ACCORD Hospice by The Art Department. For further information, contact Lisa Watt, Marketing Manager, The Art Department Paisley, Ltd. email: marketing@art-department.org